Operation Speedy Express

Operation Speedy Express was a US military operation of the Vietnam War which took place in the Mekong Delta region from 1 December 1968 to 31 May 1969.

In the densely-populated Mekong Delta, the war in the countryside suddenly intensified when General Creighton Abrams sent General Julian Ewell and the US 9th Infantry Division to destroy the remaining Viet Cong south of Saigon. He believed that the "hearts-and-minds" approach could be overdone, and the only way to overcome Viet Cong terror was by brute force. Patrols were sent to pursue the Viet Cong throughout the night, and helicopters were sent out with instruments which could detect traces of carbon and ammonia to determine where life forms were. Many people who were out after curfew were shot, and, during the day, any people who ran were targeted and killed. Many farmers fled when helicopters landed, but they were judged as being Viet Cong sympathizers rather than being afraid. Ewell boasted 10,889 Viet Cong killed in six months with only 242 American losses, but many of those killed were unarmed civilians who were wrongly assumed to be Viet Cong sympathizers. At Abrams' recommendation, Ewell was promoted, but the Army later estimated that half of the Vietnamese dead were unarmed innocent civilians; nobody was ever held accountable.